The Toronto Maple Leafs dropped an exciting overtime game, 5-4, to the Florida Panthers on Friday night at the Amerant Bank Arena. With the Game 3 loss, the Leafs’ series lead is now down to 2-1.
Brad Marchand scored the game-winner at the 15:27 mark, off a deflection in front of the Leafs’ net. Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, and Jonah Gadjovich scored for the Florida Panthers.
Meanwhile, John Tavares scored twice for the Toronto Maple Leafs, with Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly adding the other goals for the Leafs.
So, let’s take a look at the three least impressive Toronto Maple Leafs players from their overtime loss in Game 3 to the Florida Panthers on Friday night.
3 least impressive Toronto Maple Leafs players from Game 3 OT loss to Florida Panthers
#3 Bobby McMann
Bobby McMann had a solid season for the Toronto Maple Leafs this year. However, he’s been relatively invisible in the postseason. He’s notched just one assist in the Leafs’ nine games thus far.
On Friday night, he went scoreless once again. While McMann’s role also consists of being a grinder on the ice, his ice time has dwindled as his line is now the de facto fourth unit. In Game 3, McMann skated 13:18 of ice time across 23 shifts.
The Leafs will be expecting more from him as the series progresses. Otherwise, McMann could take a seat at some point.
#2 Pontus Holmberg
Pontus Holmberg has been a quiet, but effective force for the Toronto Maple Leafs at times. He’s a reliable defensive forward that doesn’t make costly gaffes. However, he hasn’t been quite as effective as the team would like him to be.
Later in Game 3, Holmberg moved up to the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander. But he didn’t generate the sort of scoring opportunities or create the trouble needed to give Nylander and Tavares a chance to end the game.
Holmberg likely stays put in the Leafs lineup. But the club will be looking for him to make more of an impact moving forward.
#1 Max Domi
Max Domi is a story of hot and cold. When he’s hot, he generates chances, skates well, and sees the puck all over the ice.
When he’s cold, he’s non-existent. For the Leafs, the latter was the case in Game 3. Domi skated in for a little over 12 minutes across 20 shifts. He got two shots on goal but also took a needless penalty in the first period.
The Leafs will need far more consistency from Max Domi as the series with the Panthers now heads into the back half.
Domi and the Maple Leafs will have a chance to take a 3-1 series lead on Sunday night as they look to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.
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Edited by Nestor Quixtan
